Create kid-friendly spaces in your home with the help of three questions this interior designer asks all her young clients.

Emma Blomfield is your new ally in the battle of Kid Space vs. Grown Up Space at home. Child-friendly spaces need to feel both relaxing and engaging. And to fit within the larger flow of the house, they must be a balance of beautiful and functional.

How does Blomfield architect spaces that check all the boxes? Simple. She asks her half-pint clients three key questions before she gets to work designing.

I love this question. I’m constantly reminding myself that my daughter’s room is not just where she sleeps at night. It’s the space where she feels most secure to play, and imagine, and read. It’s where she chooses her outfits for each day, and where her beloved books and stuffed animals live. It’s where her literal window to the world is; every morning she scrambles over to the foot of her bed and pushes her curtains aside and says hello to the sun and the rainbow-colored clouds.

Understanding how your child likes to use their space will help you create a space that feels like home.

This might seem like common sense, but when’s the last time you let your child influence his or her surroundings? I love my kid and I’m here to make space for her creative influence in our home, but if she had her way, her walls would be hot pink and her ceiling would be purple and her carpet would be glitter. (So would her curtains, and her bedding, and her chair cover, and her fan, and her…)

Her favorite color has more staying power than her favorite characters, but when it comes to painting walls, I’m playing the long game. So we accent her room with her favorite colors, with items that grab attention, but will be easy to upgrade when she stops leaning toward electric pink as her default mood board centerpiece.

This gets to the heart of what your kid is into. My toddler has a new favorite princess every two days, so we won’t be decorating her room in specific decor. She insists it was all wrong before the paint was even dry.

I look for common denominators. She has always and will always love to jump on her bed. She has always and will always love to roll around on her floor. She loves to read, and she loves to snuggle. And she loves to be outside, and she loves to make art and sing.